The present invention relates to the general field of cutting parts out from a flexible material.
A particular but non-limiting field of application for the invention is that of cutting parts out from a piece of non-textile flexible material such as leather, in particular in the clothing, furnishing, or automotive upholstery industries.
In known manner, the process of cutting parts out from a piece of flexible material, e.g. such as a skin, takes place as follows. The skin for cutting up is initially prepared, i.e. an operator looks for any defects in the skin and identifies them directly on the skin by means of marks. The skin with its marks is then digitally scanned. Using the digital representation of the skin and appropriate software means, the operator obtains an optimized layout of the various parts that are to be cut out from the skin. The layout is converted into a program for cutting out parts. The skin is then placed on a cutting table where it is cut up, generally by means of a blade forming part of a cutter tool and moving through the skin along cutting paths that are defined by the pre-established program for cutting out the parts.
Nevertheless, cutting out parts with such a process can raise certain problems, in particular when two parts for cutting out in the skin are too close to each other (typically less than 1 millimeter (mm) apart from each other). Specifically, in this situation, after the first part has been cut out, the blade of the cutter tool that is cutting out the second part runs the risk of being “attracted” by the cutout left by the first part because of its proximity. As a result, the second part can present cutting out defects that degrade the quality of the resulting part.